Realization
by gredandforge95
Summary: James finally gives up on Lily. Will she realize what she is missing before it's too late? Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
1. Chapter 1

James's POV

_From my desk I can see her writing furiously, paying rapt attention to whatever Professor Binns is saying. I honestly don't know how she can pay attention to his dull lessons. Just another reason why I love Lily Evans in addition to her hair, her temper, her bottle green eyes, her intelligence… everything about her really. _

_Merlin, why can't I just get over this bird? It would be so much easier than pining after her 24/7 and getting harshly rejected every time I speak to her. She really hates me. A bloke can only take so much till he succumbs to depression. I think that's what I'm in… I can't eat, sleep, and even Quidditch has lost its magic… ironic, right? I just don't know what to do anymore. Moony and Padfoot don't know what to do with me. I'm basically a mess… _

_*Psst* _

A wad of parchment hit the back of James's head. _Ow. _James turned around to see a worried looking Remus and Sirius.

"Prongs, you're staring again…" Remus nodded towards Lily's table. James started to blush; embarrassed that he had been caught once again staring at Evans.

"Really Prongs, you've got to get over this bird. She's not healthy for you." Sirius reasoned with James. James stubborn face began to crumple as he considered forgetting about Lily.

Professor Binns ceased to speak and the rustle of everyone gathering their parchments and quills and stuffing them in their bags, signaling that the class had ended. Remus and Sirius walked on either side of James and walked out of class back to their dormitory.

"James," Remus began, "I think you should try to get over her. There is nothing you can do if a girl doesn't like you."

"But Moony, I can't! I think about her all the time, and it really doesn't help that she is in all my classes." James protested.

"Siriusly Prongs," Sirius paused for effect as the other boys just groaned, "Get over this bird so that we can continue playing Quidditch and sneaking out to Hogsmeade!" He punched the air, getting excited.

"Fine…fine. Just let me try one more time, asking her out. Just for old times sake. And if she rejects me… again, I'll know it's for real." James declared, with a new spark of determination in his eyes.

Remus and Sirius glanced at each other, at loss at what to say to persuade their friend not to go through another episode of rejection from Lily Evans. They turned to convince him not to, but James had already hurried off down the corridor, having seen the familiar red blaze of hair turn the hall. _Oh boy…not again. _And they ran after their lovesick friend.

Lilys POV

"Oi, Evans!" Potter yelled, as he ruffled his hair, in an attempt to calm his nerves. _No no no… not again! _

"What, Potter." Lily sneered, as she turned just in time to see his hand in his hair. _Ugh, arrogant Potter and his stupid hair fussing. Can't he just realize that it's not attractive to have his hair 'windswept' like that. I can't STAND him. _

James stopped abruptly at her tone, but blinked and continued. "So, Evans… Hogsmeade is this weekend…" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Fancy going with me, the greatest Quidditch player ever at Hogwarts?"

Lily's temper bubbled to surface, registering what he was saying. "NO POTTER. I will NOT go to Hogsmeade with you this weekend or ever for that matter! And if you ask me again, I will hex you so hard, your grandchildren will feel it!" Lily huffed, and sped toward her dorm, not far enough to block out Potter's last retort. "MY GRANDCHILDREN ARE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, LILY!"

_Insufferable Potter! Suggesting that I would even think of marrying that berk and have children with him! When will he ever leave me alone?! _Lily walked in to her dorm she shared with Mary, Marlene and Alice, and slammed the door shut.

"Woah, Lily, what's your deal?" Marlene asked, as she was eating a chocolate bar from Honeydukes.

"My DEAL?! My _deal_ is Potter and his intolerable habit of asking me out every 5 minutes!" Lily practically screamed in frustration and landed on her bed in despair. The other girls shared a knowing look, and turned their attention back at Lily, trying to console her anger.

James's POV

"You both were right. It's hopeless." James hoarsely told his best friends as lay on his bed in their dorm room. "I will never be with Lily. I have to get over her. Now."

"James, do you really want to do this? It's going to be really hard." Remus spoke quietly to James. James nodded. "You can't ask her out, flirt with her, or spend any time with her, you just have to stop."

"Okay" James was defeated, emotionally. He took off his shoes, closed his curtains and went to sleep, not caring that dinner was soon. A lone tear fell down his face. _This is it. No more Lily. _

The next day in Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall waited fore the usual before-class chatter to die down before beginning to speak.

"As you all may know, next year you will take your NEWTs exams. In preparation for that test, you will be assigned 5 spells that you will present to the class with your partner. The format may be a diagram, a skit, or if you have any other ideas please see me."

McGonagall picked up a parchment of names and began to call out partners.

"Prewett and Pettigrew… Black and McKinnon…"

Alice grudgingly walked over to the shy Peter, and Sirius winked at Marlene as she rolled her eyes at him.

McGonagall continued to call out more names, James looked at his desk, trying not to look at a she who must not be named… _I don't think I can do this. It is a struggle just to not look at her! But I have to do it. I don't think my heart can even bear another rejection from her. What's worse is I don't think she believes I love her. _

"Potter and Evans" McGonagall called. James widened his eyes at the ground, not believing his rotten luck. _This cannot be happening, _Lily and James both thought.

Lily walked over to James, "Potter, you better not ruin this project for me, I don't care how smart you think you are. Just don't stand in my way." She internally cringed as she anticipated his arrogant response about how they can snog in the library or something Potter-like.

James looked up at Lily, expressionless, nodded, collected his things and then left the room.

_What just happened… did Potter just leave without asking me out or flirting or ruffling his stupid hair?! YESS! _Lily grinned and happily walked out class feeling lighter than before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Shoutout to Jets Sparrow for being my first review! Thanks! Hope you like this chapter. **

**Please R&R!**

Chapter 2

_Ugh look at Potter, playing with that godforsaken snitch! Of course he forgot about our project. Huh… usually he would kill for some alone time with me in the library… whatever. The point is, he is bringing us down and I won't stand for this. Hmph. _With that thought, Lily marched up to Potter and glared at him, arms crossed, tapping her foot menacingly.

James knew she was there. He knows where she is in the room without even looking for her. Sirius and Remus call it his "Lily Radar"

He looked up at her, uninterested.

"Yes, Lily?" He spoke as if he was tired and defeated.

Lily's eyes widened a little at his demeanor. _This is not the Potter I'm used to. He looks so sad…His eyes lost his mischievous glint. I never noticed how hazel his eyes were. Wait… what am I saying? Ha! Lily…. Get your head clear. _

_"_Potter. Did you forget we are meeting after classes for our project? Because it sure doesn't look like it." Lily watched as James slowly got up from the couch, grabbed his bag and look up at her.

"I didn't forget Lily, I know you want to do well. Let's go?" He motioned his hands toward the portrait entrance.

Confused by James's behavior, Lily turned and walked out, faintly aware of James trailing behind her.

At the library, James picked a table at random and began pulling out his Transfiguration books, spare parchment and a quill. He sat down and wordlessly began jotting down spells they learned about. Lily pulled out a chair and began to brainstorm out loud.

"We should just pick 5 spells that are similar and construct a diagram or a presentation with them. I don't understand exactly what Professor McGonagall wants us to do, really." Lily paused and looked up at James who had a list of spells on his parchment.

"I thought we could do our project on spells that deal with animals. Here, take a look." James passed his parchment to Lily.

It wrote:

Bird-Conjuring Charm: "Avis" – conjures a flock of birds from wand tip

Wand motion: Two bumps in the air; Left to right

Animal to Water Goblet: "Vera Verto"

Wand motion: Tap thrice

Avifors Spell: "Avifors" – turns target into birds

Wand motion: Point at target

Animagus- Reversal Spell: Homorphus Charm

Wand motion: point at animagus form

Lily looked up, impressed at her partner.

"But there are only four…Potter, we need five." Lily handed the parchment back to Potter.

James took the parchment, nodded and said "Yea that's as many as I could write down before you saw what I was doing. Do you have any idea for the last one?"

Lily thought for a moment, inspiration striking, and took the paper to write down one more spell.

Piscifors – turns target into a fish

Wand motion: point at target

"There… that should do it!" Lily put down the quill, satisfied with how their project was turning out.

With all the spells figured out, James began to wrap up his things. "So, I'll see you tomorrow and we can figure out the presentation?"

"Uh..Y-yea, tomorrow will be fine." Lily flustered, as she saw James brusquely walk out of the library, his head hung low.

_That was the most foreign experience I have ever had with Potter. He didn't even ask me out ONCE. I might even be a little dissapoin- waitwhatno! My brain is experiencing some delusions… Maybe Remus or Sirius knows what is going on with Potter..._

__Lily collected her things and walked out of the library in search of Remus and Sirius.

**What will Lily do to figure out what is wrong with James? And what will she do when she finds out? Read and Review and I'll post Chapter 3! R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Lily's POV

Lily walked out of the library, determined to figure out what was going on with James Potter, the supposed bane of her existence. Why is she going after Potter's friends to find out why he is upset? Lily did not know herself. _I shouldn't even care what is going on with that arrogant toe-rag. Its not like I'm upset that he hasn't given me any attention, like, at all. I am NOT one of _those_ girls. I refuse to be. _

Lily walked past the numerous portraits and up and down several stairwells till she finally reached the Gryffindor tower. As she walked through the portrait hole, she scanned the crowd of people in search of the troublesome best friends of James Potter. _As long as Potter is not with them I will talk to them. _

Finally, Lily spotted Sirius and Remus lounging on the best chairs the common room has to offer, thankfully alone. "Remus!" called Lily as she hurriedly walked towards the boys.

Remus and Sirius looked up from whatever they were doing and stared apprehensively at the fast approaching Lily. "Yes, Lily?" Remus spoke in a strained voice, as if talking to her was physically hurting him. _What is wrong with all of these boys!? Its like they have something going on that is really ruining their mood. Or someone… _

"Remus…and Black," Lily added in an afterthought, "I wanted to ask you what was wrong with Potter. He is in such a state. He barely even talks to me… not that I really noticed or cared. Just…what is wrong?"

Remus sighed and looked at Sirius who shrugged and gave a noncommittal jerk of his head. "Lily…James is acting weird because of _you_." He paused, as if searching for anything significant in her reaction. Lily was stunned, but concealed her thoughts well, a skill she taught herself when being bullied by her sister, Petunia.

"James," Remus continued, "is trying his best to finally get over you, because that's what you want so badly, isn't it? Just forget him and leave him alone. I think that would be best in this situation. I mean, unless you liked him back… but we all know you hate him…" Remus spoke solemnly.

Sirius snorted loudly, "Yea…sure, she would never like James, no offense, Evans, but you are kind of a stuck-up, know-it all, judgmental person who wouldn't give anyone a chance."

Finally, Lily let some emotion break through her calm mask. _Stuck up? Know it all? Judgmental?! _"Ex-cuuse me?" Lily blinked, trying to comprehend what just happened. "I admit I can be a stickler for the rules and a know it all… but I am NOT a judgmental person!" Remus looked weary as Sirius began to explain exactly how judgmental Lily Evans was.

"Evans, do you even know James? No. Because you never gave him the chance to show you what type of bloke he is!"

"I know exactly what type of boy Potter is! Hexing first-years and bullying everyone, playing stupid pranks, and starting fights with the Slytherins! Lily's anger bubbled and she wondered why she was even trying to find out what was wrong with an insolent git like Potter.

"I don't know if you noticed, but in the past year James hasn't done any of those things." Remus added. "He hasn't even picked one fight with Snape… He changed, Lily. He grew up. For you. And if you can't see that then you definitely don't deserve him…" With that Remus and Sirius left to their room, leaving a confused Lily standing there, trying to remember the last time Potter did something horrible.

_Nothing. I can't think of anything. Anything at all. The last time I can even think of was when Sev-no- Severus called me that name… And I suppose he was trying to defend me. He hasn't done anything to merit any of my insults. Oh my god. I am a terrible person. I AM judgmental! Oh no! what do I do?! _

_Lily ran up to her room, slammed the door, and flopped onto her bed. With her face buried in her hand in shame, she decided she had to apologize to James Potter. It seems like the right thing to do. _

Right when Lily began to feel better did she remember the most significant part of her conversation with Remus and Black. _"James is trying his best to finally get over you… He changed, Lily. He grew up. For you." _

Lily sat up abruptly, thinking fast, her eyes wide. _Wait… he is this upset because of _me_?_ _He must really like me. A lot. I think I have really misunderstood Pot-James. _

With that thought, she landed on her bed with a thud, and tried to go to sleep, trying not to think about all the horrible things she said to James in the past year. _Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will apologize. _

**How will James react when Lily apologizes to him? **

**Read and Review please! This is my first fan fic and I would really love some advice from you all! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. **

**I am so sorry I am late posting this chapter! I promise it won't take this long again! I also hate it when other writers take forever to update. :) And I value your reviews and follows.**

**Jets Sparrow: I'm so glad you love it! And it's not a problem :) Tell me what you think about this chapter.**

**Musicluver99: Thank you! And I will keep writing. I am so excited for this next chapter.**

**OnceUponaRavenclaws: First off, awesome name. Second, yay! I'm glad. Hope you like this chapter! **

James's POV

Whenever James was upset, he came to the lakefront and sat on one of the strangely comfy roots of a birch tree. Whenever he was upset worrying about his heroic parents, to the lake it was. Whenever he was mad at Padfoot for his 'oops-I-went-too-far' pranks, he brooded as he stared at the calm water. And especially when a certain redhead refused to be with James, did he contemplate staying by the lake for the rest of his life, depressed.

This time, at the lake, it was different. James wasn't upset that Lily wouldn't like him back, though that was still a situation. He was upset that no matter how hard he tried; he could not get _over_ Lily Evans.

Now that he barely saw her, he began to daydream about her. She consumed the entirety of his thoughts, 24/7. And it gave him massive headaches trying to block out his fantasies. He couldn't find anything to think about that wouldn't involve Lily, for his life was surrounded around her. Like his own personal curly red, fiery sun.

So today, James sought to forget about Lily by staring at the calm blue rippling water and thinking about everything but Lily. He was doing a great job, thinking about the next time Remus was going to transform, knowing that it had nothing to do with Lily. That is, until he heard a familiar female voice call to him. _Just my luck. _

James turned to see Lily bounding down the hill to meet him. _How did she even know I was here?... I'm going to kill Padfoot. _Suddenly, Lily was standing right next to James, blocking the sun out with her head. James looked up, squinting to see her face. _She even looks like the sun from this angle. Ugh Prongs. Stop it. _

"Hey Evans…"

"Hello Potter. What're you doing here?" Lily asked, although she probably already knew the answer.

James shrugged, "Just thinking…what are you doing here? Surely you're not looking for me?" He tried to keep his tone light and somewhat teasing, but he failed at that, cracking only the tiniest of smiles.

"Actually, Potter, I did come here looking for you. You see… I'm a terrible person."

James cocked an eyebrow, not quite sure where she was going with this allegation.

Lily breathed in, as if to suck up some courage that was somehow in the air, "I'm a terrible person because I judged you and was horribly mean to you when you didn't even deserve any of my insults. You see, I was so used to despising you that I didn't even notice that you changed. A lot. I didn't notice you stopped pranking irresponsibly. I didn't notice that you stopped bullying first-years. I didn't notice you telling Sirius to lay off and shape up. And I didn't notice what a good person you actually are. That is completely my close-minded fault. And I am really truly sorry."

Lily blurted this all out, and stopped abruptly, holding her breath, looking apprehensively at James. After a few seconds, although they felt like an hour to Lily, James responded.

"It's ok, Lily, I sorta understand. You have hated me since we were first years and I guess old habits die-hard." _Yeah, old habits like loving Lily…_

Lily looked at him curiously, "James?" He finally looked up at her, hearing her say his name for the first time. "Do you think that maybe I can make up for my terrible actions by asking to be your friend?" Lily looked so anxious, as if waiting for Potter to reject her, just as she had so many times in the past.

"Of course, Lily, of course." Lily beamed at James and extended her hand to him. James took her hand and shook it, confirming the beginning of their strangely new friendship.

_This is slightly better than her hating me, and I can live with that. But there is still a hole in my heart that will probably be empty forever._

Lily's POV

Lily trudged up the hill back to Hogwarts thinking immensely about the conversation she had with James. She had to analyze every second of the 5 minutes she was down there. And it was killing her why she even cared that much.

_Did he seem happy we were friends?_

_Did I lose him forever?_

_Did he believe my apology? OMG. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he thinks I'm an even worse person because I faked an apology. Wait no that doesn't even make any sense…_

_Does he still want to be my friend? _

_YES of course he does, Lily…But then why did he not look as excited or his usual Pott—James self?_

_Did I break him into so many pieces that an apology won't glue him back together? Because then I have to do something else. I HAVE to work harder. To fix him….Because I owe him that much._

_But what do I do?_

Here, Lily was at a loss. And as she grew accustomed to her surroundings, she realized where she was and found herself actually lost.

_Are you serious?! SIRIUS! What would he do to cheer up James? Wait Lily, we've got pressing matters. You don't know where you are._

So Lily wandered around the castle, looking for a familiar landmark, thinking of what Sirius would've done in her place.

_Well I know they sneak out to Hosgmeade… And talk a lot about Quidditch…. And girls…I can't really do that with him..._

Lily reached an abandoned corridor that had pink and green graffiti on the walls, no doubt magically permanent, because there was a row of weird looking cleaning bottles on the floor, all empty. The graffiti read:

MOONY LOVES TO SNIFF BUTTS! (kind of furry butt drawn)

PADFOOT SHAG NUMBER (followed by tens of tally marks)

PRONGS AND RED SITTING IN A TREE S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G (with 'Red' crossed out in green and a broken heart painted sloppily on top)

It was so painstakingly obvious who wrote that, and despite her situation, Lily began to giggle. And then chuckle. And then full out laugh. After a few minutes of being that crazy bird in the middle of a corridor laughing her head off, Lily wiped out her laughter tears and knew what she had to do to help her new friend get better.

_I'm going to prank the school. _

**What do you think Lily will do? Any ideas? Please review! I seriously would love to hear from you all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry for not updating sooner. I hit a writer's block because I wanted this chapter to be really good. Hope you all like it! **

**GorgeousGriffin: Thanks! Hope you like Prankster Lily**

**Prongspotter: Thank you very much! **

Lily's POV

_ Every thing is ready to go… I can't believe I'm doing this again. A year ago if someone told me I would be pulling a huge prank on Hogwarts - and for James POTTER no less, I would tell him or her they were delusional and needed to be checked into St. Mungo's immediately. Now I think I'm the one who needs to be checked into St. Mungo's. This is so crazy, so downright, out of my goody-two shoes league. Thank Merlin I am devilishly clever or I would've been caught before it even began._

Lily thought back to the last two weeks since she decided to throw a prank for James in the empty graffiti-covered corridor. Trips to Slughorn's store room and supply closet were easy enough to sneak in, as the teachers pet, she had a copy of the keys. But sneaking into the boy's dorm and sneaking out of Hogwarts took more skill and guts than any potions recipe.

_So much has happened, all of it leading up to this exact moment. There were a multitude of times when I was about to chuck everything and continue on with life, but one more look at James's empty face brought me back to the planning mode. Hanging out with the Marauder's definitely gave me the edge I needed to pull this off. Ha! I can't believe for the past two weeks, those 3 boys were my friends. _

Neither could anyone at Hogwarts. Lily and the Marauder's were the talk of every hallway. A month ago, students could distinctly remember a time when Lily was furious with those boys and Lily and James's screaming matches were not easily forgotten. But yet here they were sitting amicably at lunch or in the common room, a jaw dropping scene for anybody who cared – and nearly everyone cared.

Lily, herself, couldn't stop thinking about this bizarre new relationship. She found herself enjoying James's company when he was being his real self, not his mopey, depressed shadow. She realized that he was only really James when he was with his best friends and… Lily. She never thought of him as genuinely funny before, but now she could never stop laughing. She would get red in the face with tears in her eyes and would start to get embarrassed, but one look at James gleeful face, and she found she didn't care she looked like a ripe tomato.

Remus and Sirius didn't know what to think of the new friendship. Remus never had a problem with Lily, since he was a prefect with her, although the sudden change between James and Lily definitely confused him. Sirius was a little grumpy towards her… as any best mate should be, because she was the reason James never did anything fun before their friendship - at least that's what Remus told Lily during their weekly prefect patrols.

_Well I hope this prank will change Sirius's mind about me. _

Lily checked again to see if everything was ready to go. _I can't postpone this any longer or my window of opportunity will be gone. Here we go! _

James's POV

James strode into the Great Hall for breakfast searching for a familiar redhead who was strangely not in the common room as per usual. He found her group of friends lounging and eating, trying to wake up for class. He scanned the whole Gryffindor table searching for her beautiful face but he didn't find it. However he did find Sirius and Remus fighting over Remus's plate of bacon. James chuckled and walked toward his aloof mates.

"Hey, Pads, have you seen Lily? She wasn't in the common room, and she's not here or in the library, I checked." He took a seat next to Remus, while grabbing a muffin and a pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Did you check her room? She probably slept in, mate… all that work can take out anyone." Sirius was referring to all the work piled on essay after essay by their professors, seemingly trying to prepare them for next year's NEWTS. Of course, Sirius still hadn't started, unfazed by the stress felt by his fellow sixth years.

"Oh… I didn't think about her room! She was probably late and went down to wait for me after I left her! Uhh I'm such an idiot! She definitely won't be my friend now!" He ran his fingers through his hair. James was incessantly skeptical of Lily's change in mood towards him, and felt that any second she would hate him again and he would lose her for good.

"Prongs, you thought of the library and the Great Hall before seeing if she was even awake? Yea she'll definitely hate you now." Sirius chuckled at that idea and turned back to his stolen bacon. James was beginning to look extremely agitated, when Remus stepped in.

"James, she's not going to stop being your friend because you left her to go eat. You guys aren't even dating. You're trying to get over her… remember?"

"Yea… Moony, that's like making an alcoholic become friends with a bottle of Odgen's…" _I think I am more in love with her than I was before, but of course I can't tell her that._ James began to pick at his muffin, without actually eating it, checking every five seconds to see if Lily would walk through the doors.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Sounds of distant fireworks behind the Great Hall doors erupted, alarming all the students, even some to their feet, James included.

_BANG! _

All of a sudden a figure flew rapidly into the Great Hall on a broom, triggering a wave of fireworks down the Great Hall, lighting up the hall with red, blue, gold, and yellow sparks of light. James's jaw dropped when he realized that the person on the broom was _HIMSELF. What the-?!_

He gaped at the imposter flying around the Great Hall, throwing gold and red confetti and popping more firecrackers that tumbled in all directions of the room. Four large floating speakers rose to every corner and began to chant "POTTER! POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!" The imposter James flew over the Gryffindor table throwing an assortment of brightly colored candies, chocolates, and confetti, prompting the other people to chant along with the speakers. Imposter James flew down the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, throwing more chocolates, boxes of Bertie's every flavor beans, chocolate frogs and cockroach clusters. The entire hall was chanting Potter's name and cheering as they caught a handful of candy. Rows of girls swooned at the sight of the popular Quidditch god flying over them, oblivious to the fact that the real James was just down the table. The fireworks became larger and louder to match the students yelling in the hall, cartwheeling and flipping over the heads of excited students.

Finally Potter flew towards the Slytherin table and pointed his wand at the door as hundreds of black balloons zoomed in and levitated over the Slytherin table like a dark cloud, and with a lazy flick of his wand, all the balloons dropped onto every Slytherin, soaking the entire table with slimy, dirty, water from the Black Lake. Girls stood and screamed as balloons rained down on them, and the guys growled menacingly at the flying James, sopping in their drenched robes.

The other three tables laughed merrily at those well- deserved students dripping in their clothes. The imposter James flew in circles around the hall, encouraging more cheers and chants from all the students, and set off the finale of fireworks erupting in the air, wowing the crowd with an impressive show. The imposter Potter flew out of the Great Hall while the whole school was transfixed by the beautiful fireworks gleaming and erupting in the ceiling, but the real James Potter never took his eyes off his doppleganger, and saw a flash of red emerge from his head before the Great Hall closed shut, abruptly stopping the fireworks show.

All the students looked around in confusion, stunned at what just happened, when all of a suddent Sirius yelled, "WHO WAS THAT?"

As everyone turned toward him, they all looked to see the real James Potter, with his jaw dropped, still staring at the closed door, and realized what had transgressed.

The silence was over as quickly as it came, and everyone began to chatter excitedly, pointing at James and wondering who had flown in the Great Hall, if it wasn't the real James Potter.

James shook himself out of his stupor and turned to his mates.

"I know who it was," he said with a smile. And then began to laugh. Uncontrollably. Sirius and Remus looked at each other, worried for their friend's sanity.

When James was done wiping the tears from his eyes, he beckoned his friends closer, and after they huddled together, James looked at his friends with lovestruck, amazed eyes and said,

"That was Lily."

Sirius and Remus dropped their jaws, and everything they were holding, pieces of bacon and handfuls of candies left on the ground. Sirius turned and ran out of the Great Hall, James and Remus not far behind him, in search of their legend of a friend, Lily Evans. The girl who just pranked the whole school and got away with it.


End file.
